The Documentary Podcast: Archive 2009

enjamin Jealous is the leader of America's oldest and largest black civil rights group. In a USA fronted by Barack Obama, what are the future battlegrounds for African American human rights?

Bermeja Island is missing. This strategically important island was clearly visible on maps of the Gulf of Mexico until the middle of the 20th century but it's now gone. BBC Mundo's David Cuen goes in search.

What role did the business schools play in last year's financial crisis? In this week's edition of Assignment, Ed Butler investigates whether, as the chair of Harvard's MBA programme insists, the schools were guilty only of teaching a deficient assessment of risk in the business world, or whether something more fundamental was at fault. Some inside the system tell Assignment that there had been a growing disconnect between the schools and society, with insufficient attention being paid to the ethics of the business world, and the sole focus of the programmes being on maximising shareholder value and personal enrichment.

n the second episode Michael Buerk visits Cairo and experience for himself how bloggers - arguably among the most hounded anywhere in the world - are taking on the Egyptian government.

Enterprise, money, innovation are all there. Is tapping into a continent's optimism the key to Africa's future? Mark Doyles looks at the solutions to solve Africa's poverty.

Rachid Sekkai from the BBC's Arabic Service talks to Muslims currently serving in the Israeli Defence Force and also to former soldiers and hears about the conflicts they face, at home and on duty, and the pride that military service sometimes brings them.

Colin Yu is a teacher who lives in Shanghai. He has a job but still struggles to support his parents on his modest income. Colin would like to spend more money and the Chinese government is offering incentives to people like him to go out and buy Chinese goods. They're hoping that by doing so it will help the country to survive the current global economic downturn. Average savings rates in China stand at around 30% and, as Chris Hogg discovers, most of that money is spent on healthcare. For Assignment he follows the story of Colin's family as they face difficult decisions over how to spend their money and how to match their savings to their healthcare needs.

Michael Buerk analyses the potential – and the dangers – of citizen journalism. In part one, he talks to bloggers and critics from Sri Lanka, Iran, Burma, and Iraq.

Accusations of tribalism, corruption and complacency have all been offered as explanations to the question of Africa's poverty. Mark Doyle looks at each of these and asks why the status quo persists.

Violent footage from the Kashmir conflict has been shared almost in real-time by citizen-journalists on video sharing websites. Suvojit Bagchi tells the story of the impact of new media communication in a conflict zone.